Habit Reflection: Create a Habit that Sticks

Step 1 Reflect on your past successful habits and apply the lessons learned to your new habit. Examples: - Adopt healthy eating and cooking habits - Learn something new through consistent practice - Boost your daily water consumption - Exercise daily - Set daily/weekly reading goals - Explore other options?

Clearly outline the specific actions involved in performing your habit. For instance: If your habit is to develop a skill, set a goal like "I will dedicate a minimum of 10 minutes daily to reading," or "I will allocate 15 minutes each morning to practice French."

Reflecting on the previous month, how often do you typically engage in this habit (or a similar activity) on average?

What guidelines will you follow to assess if you've accomplished your daily habit? Examples: - Track the duration of the habit (e.g., 10 minutes of reading). - Count the repetitions or units completed (e.g., 25 push-ups, or 7 glasses of water daily). - Achieve a personal goal (e.g., attending a workout class). - Complete a specific task (e.g., taking out the recycling before work).

Determine the number of times you aim to perform your habit daily, or the total repetitions you hope to achieve.

When will you carry out your habit? You can choose from three types of plans for performing your habit. 1. Connect to an Existing Habit: Link your new habit to an existing one for better effectiveness. For example, start your new habit after brushing your teeth at night or finishing your morning tea. This technique helps you build more habits easily using an established one! 2. Respond to a Trigger: Perform your habit when a consistent trigger occurs in your environment. For example, begin your habit when your alarm goes off in the morning, when you return home from work, or when you feel annoyed at something. 3. Set a Consistent Time: Schedule your habit at the same time daily. For example, practice your habit every day at 8 am.

Using a 1-10 scale, how inspired do you feel to consistently work on your habit daily for the upcoming week?

Habit Reflection Action Plan 1. Recall a past situation where you successfully changed a long-term habit or behavior. Consider the various habit changes you've experienced in your life. Everyone has altered their daily habits at some point, whether the change was significant or minor. 2. Identify lessons or tactics from that situation that helped you form new habits successfully. Reflect on the valuable insights you gained from that past experience. Habit formation varies for each individual, so it's crucial to remember your own experiences and identify the strategies that worked best for you! For example: • Using rewards as motivation for maintaining my habit. • Gradually building up to practicing a new habit daily. • Having a buddy to form a new habit with makes it easier. • Doing a new habit first thing in the morning simplifies the process. • Fear of failure keeps me consistent. • Remembering new habits is the most challenging part for me. • Finding time to practice the habit is the hardest part for me. 3. Apply your previous lessons or tactics to form your new habit. Now that you've reflected on your past experiences, think about how you can use that knowledge to develop your new habit, such as reading a book or the news. Consider what helped you during your previous behavior change effort, for example: "Experiencing all the health benefits from daily exercise."

Final Step: Create a Summary 1. Your previous successful habit change: Example: "Quit eating meat" 2. Actions that helped you achieve this change: Example: "Enjoyed the benefits of the new habit" 3. Applying the lessons learned to your new habit: Example: "Stay motivated by my improved energy levels and well-being" Remember what you've written in this exercise. Over the next few weeks, while maintaining your habit, try to incorporate these insights to help you stay committed!

Advice from the experts: Importance of Motivation. Remember that motivation comes in two forms: a natural, instinctive urge to accomplish a task, and a logical conviction that an activity is valuable after weighing its advantages and disadvantages. To establish a new habit, choose one that combines both forms of motivation, instead of pushing yourself to do something you're not passionate about or not entirely sure is worth the energy. Explore the process of building lasting habits